Memberships and Professional Service Center for Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, 2002-present; Academy for Eating Disorders, 2002-present; Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2000-present; American Psychological Association, 1996-present; Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthodd, 2005-present; Society for Research in Adolescence, 1997-present; Society for Research in Child Development, 1998-present.

Grants, Honors, and Awards Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence, Rutgers University, Camden, April, 2009, Travel Award for the 3rd Annual Conference on Emerging Adulthood, February 2007; Grant from the Center for Children and Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, Camden. Funding to support research on romantic relationships and health among emerging adults, March 2006; Honoree, “Who’s Who in the World,” 2006; Rutgers University, Research Council Grant, June 2004; Honoree, "Who's Who of American Women,” 2004-2005; Honoree, “Women of Today are the History of Tomorrow Banquet,” Rutgers University, Camden, March 2003.

Academic Interests and Plans The principal themes of my research address issues central to both developmental and health psychology, and employ a variety of methodologies ranging from self-report questionnaires to family-based research designs. In broadest terms, this work explores the socialization processes and individual characteristics involved in the acquisition of health beliefs and behaviors beginning in childhood and continuing throughout the life span. A primary focus of my research has been the examination of social influences on eating-related behaviors (i.e., eating, dieting, body image). In particular, I have examined parents’ influences on their children’s eating-related behaviors and romantic partners’ influences on each other’s eating-related behaviors. These studies consistently point to the important role that other people have on individuals’ development of both healthy and maladaptive dietary patterns and feelings about their bodies. A complementary line of research that I have been involved in focuses on the role that personality qualities play in individuals’ adoption of health-related behaviors. These studies consistently suggest that the personality traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness may help to protect individuals against participation in unhealthy behaviors (e.g., drug use). My current research combines these two lines of research through the investigation of young adult couples and the role that both their relationships and their personalities play in influencing their health behaviors.